Dear Exiles, GGG will release Path of Exile 2 0.1.1 later this week. Today, MmoGah will show you the patch preview. Based on players' feedback, GGG will make the following changes: Endgame Mapping, Leagues, Pinnacle Content, Item Changes, Specific Monster and Boss Balance, Item Filters on Consoles, and Other Stuff. Now, let's see what GGG says.
Endgame Mapping
One key area requiring significant focus is the foundational mapping experience. We've implemented numerous changes here. Firstly, endgame maps have undergone a balance adjustment concerning the number of monsters, chests, magic and rare monsters, Essences, Strongboxes, and Precursor Artifacts. Overall, maps should now feel more rewarding. Each map typically specializes in one or more of these elements, making them particularly lucrative in those aspects.
Towers are crucial for players to run frequently, but we previously had only one. To introduce more variety, we've added four new tower maps: Alpine Ridge, Sinking Spire, Bluff, and Mesa.
We've also revamped the existing Lost Towers map to make it more engaging. Additionally, we're now spawning more maps with bosses. Although the intended rate was one in four maps, the actual rate was lower due to some maps not spawning bosses. We've increased the rate to achieve the intended frequency. We're also introducing a new type of Tablet that allows you to add bosses to your maps with its mod pool.
Strongboxes have also been improved. They now spawn monsters more quickly, have a less intrusive fog effect, and the timings and effects of their mods have been adjusted.
Regarding effect visibility, many maps had excessive clutter, hindering the rendering of ground effects and making them hard to see and avoid. We've reduced clutter on some maps and modified certain effects to ensure they are always visible.
Furthermore, the visibility of elemental explosion effects has been enhanced; they now linger longer before exploding and disappear without exploding if a rare monster dies. Volatile Plants are also much easier to spot before they explode. We've increased the zoom level on the Atlas, addressed various terrain collision issues in many maps, improved the load times for opening the World Map and Atlas panel, and now display the biome of a map when hovering over it.
Leagues
For other in-game content systems, our focus is on aligning all rewards with their intended values. Recently, we addressed a bug in Delirium that prevented monsters from spawning after the initial phase. Additionally, we've increased the drop rate of Simulacrums by 20% to match the frequency of encountering Expedition and Ritual bosses.
In the case of Ritual, we've enhanced the appearance rate of Omens in the Ritual tribute window by 60%.
For Expedition, we've upgraded the rarity of items available in the shops. However, we plan to implement more significant changes to the rewards for this league in the future.
Pinnacle Content
One frequent concern is that reaching Pinnacle content takes too long, and once there, players only get one attempt without a chance to learn the boss mechanics. To address this, we're implementing several changes: Firstly, we're moving the Citadel spawn closer to the center of the Atlas and adding an effect to make them visible from further away in the fog of war, making them easier to locate.
To solve the issue of limited attempts, the Arbiter of Ash will now allow up to six respawn attempts. Respawns can only be triggered by the keyholder, and all party members will respawn simultaneously. Leaving the map still forfeits your attempt, so you'll need to face the boss with your current build. Higher difficulty levels will reduce the number of respawn attempts, but by then, you should be familiar with the fight mechanics.
We'll also gradually introduce respawns to other Pinnacle content. Additionally, players have noticed fewer keys from Faradun Citadels on the market, assuming it's due to less frequent spawns. However, it's actually because the boss defeats players more often. We've made adjustments to this boss to align it with others.
Item Changes
Many players have mentioned that our unique items often feel lackluster. While uniques are typically designed to enable builds at high levels, even if they are low-level items, we recognize the need to ensure they feel powerful when first acquired at lower levels as well.
In this patch, we are enhancing many uniques. These updates should make discovering uniques at lower levels more enjoyable and make subsequent character playthroughs more exciting with great uniques to use.
We're also making several adjustments to improve the experience of finding rares at higher levels. Firstly, we're tweaking mod weightings to reduce the occurrence of undesirable mods. Additionally, we're fixing an issue where high-tier items would not include the highest-tier modifier of a given mod type. This bug prevented bows and crossbows from spawning with tier-five attack speed and rings from spawning with tier-five life. Another change is allowing socketables, such as Runes, to be overwritten with another socketable.
Specific Monster and Boss Balance
As we continue playing, we still encounter various balance issues with certain monsters or bosses that can be quite challenging. This patch includes adjustments to a large number of these monsters and bosses. We'll provide the full list in the patch notes, but there are numerous changes aimed at addressing instances where monsters or bosses felt overly difficult in specific situations.
Here are a few examples to give you an idea of the changes you can expect. The Silverfist Commander roll now deals significantly less damage. Plaguebearers' Detonate Dead can no longer be used off-screen and has improved telegraphing. Forsaken Miners now throw fewer grenades, have better visuals, and deal less damage. Additionally, Lost Men Zealots can no longer use meteor attacks from off-screen, among many other similar adjustments.
Item Filters on Console
One significant problem for console players is the current malfunction of the web-based item filter system. As a result, they are unable to utilize item filters like PC users. In version 0.1.1, we will activate the same system used in Path of Exile 1, which permits subscribing to item filters on the website. Initially, this will be implemented on the Path of Exile 1 website to expedite the feature's release. Eventually, we will enhance the user experience and transition this functionality to the Path of Exile 2 website.
Other Stuff
This patch also includes numerous minor changes and bug fixes that I believe you'll find valuable. For instance, we've enhanced Armor and Scavenged Plating. We've also added a display for the remaining uses of your charms and an effect when they activate. Additionally, we've fixed the music that Una was supposed to play in town. There are many other small fixes and improvements throughout the game as well.
Conclusion
Here is the ending of this patch-changing guide. I hope you will have fun in the new patch.
